1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates an apparatus for feeding chip components, and in particular to an apparatus for feeding chip components in bulk while aligning such components in a line.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various kinds of chip components are mounted on a print circuit board. An automatic mounting device transfers such chip components to the print circuit board and then mounts the chip components on the board.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-130088 discloses a chip component feeding apparatus. The chip component feeding apparatus feeds chip components in bulk while aligning such chip components in a line along a predetermined direction. According to the conventional chip component feeding apparatus, the chip components in bulk contained in a cartridge are introduced into a first component reservoir and then introduced into a second component reservoir by an up-and-down movement of a guide plate disposed between the first and second reservoirs. In the apparatus, an operator operates an operation lever to actuate the guide plate. The second component reservoir communicates with the first chip component and has a thickness which corresponds to that of the chip component so as to contain the components in a predetermined attitude thereof. Then, the chip components in the second reservoirs move down along a component guide groove by their own weight with keeping the predetermined attitude so that the components align in the guide groove in a line.
The chip components generally need to be fed out with their largest surfaces being facing upward so that the largest surfaces of the components are vacuumed and the components are picked up. On the other hand, in the conventional feeding apparatus explained above, the second reservoir is disposed in the same direction as the component feeding direction. Therefore, in the case that the component guide groove of the apparatus feeds the components, whose cross sections are rectangular, from the second reservoir to the picking up position, the component guide groove is designed to change the attitudes of the components by 90 degrees while twisting the attitudes of the components by 90 degrees. As a result, the largest surfaces of the components to be picked up face upward at the picking up position.
The conventional chip component feeding apparatus has following problems. As explained above, since the component guide groove needs to twist the attitudes of the components by 90 degrees when feeding the components to the picking up position, a very complicate groove machining process is required and the cost of the guide groove therefore becomes high.
In the conventional apparatus, the guide plate agitates the chip components in the first reservoir by the upper end surface thereof and guides the components into the second reservoir. The guide plate therefore needs to have a large vertical stroke and a large width so as to introduce enough amounts of the chip components into the second reservoir. As a result, when the guide plate moves upward, the chip components might be caught between the guide plate and the wall of the first reservoir and/or between the guide plate and the wall of the second reservoir. Similarly, when the guide plate moves downward, the chip components might be drawn between the guide plate and the wall of the first reservoir and/or between the guide plate and the wall of the second reservoir. In such cases, the chip components might be broken and further the guide plate and the first and second reservoirs might be damaged. Moreover, the guide plate might not work.